Part 2: Doers VS Sayers – How My Life Has Changed Since My Mom’s Death

The other day I shared with you the sense of urgency I have been feeling since my mom passed away and my 25 year old brother had a stroke. I am by no means perfect and still struggle with procrastination but I have been able to make some progress.

If you feel stuck, I want you to look at those areas in your life and ask yourself the tough questions: are you a doer or a sayer?

DOERS:

Understand the importance and schedule the time necessary to get the result

Surround themselves with others who are DOING

Invest the necessary money, even if that means cutting back on things that aren’t as high of a priority

Find the time by reducing less important activities

Understand there will be roadblocks but are determined to overcome them

Realize that the pain of their current situation is worse than their perceived pain of making the change and the future pain of NOT DOING is even worse.

Know there will never be a perfect time to start and the best day to start was yesterday and the second best day is today

SAYERS:

Look at their busy schedule and refuse to move things around to make the time

Allow lesser-valued activities to take over their lives for the more important things

See how much it will cost and compare that to what else they could be buying (bigger house, newer car, more clothes, more vacations, etc)

See the roadblocks ahead and quit before they start because they don’t want to fail

Are afraid of what others will think and say about them as they make their change

Have a short term mindset rather than a long term outcome

Think that a year from now life will be in a better spot to make the change

I want to end this message with a few things I have done in the past three months to progress in a few areas of my life. This isn’t meant to impress you but rather impress upon you that it is possible.

With my mom’s passing, I wanted to help even more women her age, dealing with menopause and other aging issues, get healthier, have more energy and meet others who are looking to do the same.

In the past three months, there have been over 621 women who have wanted to learn more about our new Fit over 50 small group training program. I have called each and every one of these incredible women up on the phone. I love doing this but I would be lying if I said there weren’t moments when I didn’t feel like making another call and following up.

Some days, I have worked 16 hours and I really never take a full day off of work, weekends are usually 4-6 hours each day.

To make sure I follow up and not make excuses as to why I shouldn’t call up these women each day, I set specific rules up for myself on how fast I need to follow up and constantly go back to my motivation, to honor my mom and provide a life changing program for these women.

My second example is completing an Ironman competition and learning how to swim. I have considered in the past doing an IM but had a million excuses why I couldn’t do one.

Since death hit so close to home, I know I am not guaranteed another day and I can’t let my dreams just be dreams. I want them to become my reality.

Here are the steps I have taken so far to be ready for the Ironman race in September 2016:

Joined a biking group that meets 2-3X/week so I can go biking with better riders

Hired a coach who happens to be a professional Ironman who will guide me through the process and bring me into his group sessions with his triathlon students

Hired a swim coach to start with the basics of swimming 3x/week

Told you that I am doing it (accountability and social support)

Watched over 12 hours of YouTube videos on Ironman training (this isn’t necessary since I have coaches who can teach me but I like to geek out to this stuff).

Interviewed over a dozen Ironman finishers on their experience and what worked and what didn’t work

I have set myself up to succeed in each of these areas by structuring my day and environment to support it.

Left to my own motivation, I know I wouldn’t run, bike or swim on my own. I need accountability and other people to do it with.

You have the ability to improve any area of your life that isn’t a 10. It won’t be easy but it is made easier when you have a sense of urgency, have a plan and set up your environment to support that goal.

You can do it. I believe in you.

With love,

Dustin

We have awarded about 30% of the funds raised for our scholarship fund from the money raised from my mom’s passing. I am looking to award another 20% over the next 6 weeks. If you are local to Madison and want to join one of our programs and money is the only reason why you can’t, then I invite you to apply here ->->https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/joyscholarship